Carter looks to clear next hurdle

Daily News Staff

Posted:
03/07/2013 11:14:56 PM PST

Updated:
03/07/2013 11:14:56 PM PST

The hurdles will be 33 inches tall at the Randal Tyson Center in Fayetteville, Ark. Except instead of 10 of them, Kori Carter will only need to clear five at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

"It's really quick," said the 20-year-old junior at Stanford.

Carter is a come-from-behind sprinter used to making her move two hurdles later. The indoor season, though, has forced the five-time California state champion to adapt. That's the nature of the 60-meter hurdles, which demand an explosive start off the blocks.

"I'm sort of built more for the 300 and 400 hurdles, just the way that I run," Carter said. "But it's fun to be able to test yourself."

In seventh grade, Carter pictured herself as a future heptathlete. One problem. Carter fell in love with the hurdles and didn't want to compete in any other events.

"I think it's because it's fast, but it's technical," Carter said. "And it's powerful, but graceful at the same time. It's a whole bunch of different things."

At Claremont High, she won the CIF state title in 300 hurdles three times in a row and the 100 hurdles twice. But she never felt there was a target on her back. In fact, her biggest competition was comprised of some of her best friends.

That tends to happen when during warm-ups there are only 10 hurdles for 30 girls.

Success has followed Carter to Stanford, where she owns school records in each of the hurdles events:

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12.99 in the 100 hurdles;

57.10 in the 400 hurdles;

8.17 in the 60 hurdles.

"It's such an honor to have your name in the record book, but at the same time I don't want to be complacent," said Carter, who was on the 4x100 relay team that broke the school mark last year. "My goal now is to make the records untouchable at some point. And, of course, I want to put my name on the record book in some other races. Just never being satisfied is something that happens with me."

It's a common trait in students at Stanford, which was a finalist along with USC when it came time to choose a college.

"I grew up in an all-Trojan family," Carter said. "But when it came down to what I wanted out of life and what I wanted out of a school, I think Stanford is a perfect fit for me. It has top academics, but you also have very, very competitive sports. And along with that, the environment is really conducive to my personality. Everyone is sort of a little weird and crazy, and I sort of fit right in. So I really love Stanford."

When she competes today in the semifinals of the 60 hurdles, Carter will earn her sixth All-America honor (first indoors). That race will occur in the middle of the 200-meter banked Mondo track at the University of Arkansas.

But Carter will also make two laps as the 400-meter leg of the women's distance medley relay. The DMR starts with 3 laps by the lead runner, then it is Carter's turn before another teammate runs the 800 leg. The miler carries the baton to the finish line.

It's a nice change of pace for Carter, who gets to spend time with the distance runners.

"I would never do a workout with Kathy Kroeger," Carter said. "But to be able to hand off a baton to Claudia (Saunders), or get it from Amy Weissenbach -- just sort of to run with these girls after seeing what they do on the track every day is really fun."

Carter has aspirations to stand on the podium this spring at the NCAA track and field championships -- the one held outdoors. But even that won't be enough to satisfy her.

It's go big, or go home.

"In my dream world, I would run professionally and then after go to grad school and then open my own practice for prosthetics," Carter said. "But we'll see what happens. I definitely don't think I would be happy with myself if I didn't give it a shot at going pro. And I think I would regret and always wonder what if."